Thai court accepts complaint seeking Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin’s removal over minister’s appointment

Thailand’s Constitutional Court on Thursday accepted a complaint seeking to remove Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin from office for giving a ministerial position to a former lawyer with a criminal conviction.

The court will scrutinise the plea by 40 senators that said Srettha’s decision to appoint Pichit Chuenban as a cabinet minister last month had constituted a serious violation of ethical standards under the constitution, the court said in a statement on Thursday.

The court voted six to three to accept the petition for consideration whether Srettha should be removed from duties, while voting five to four against suspending his duties in the meantime. It gave Srettha 15 days to submit his defence from when he is formally notified of the court decision.

The government said Pichit had been picked because of his suitability for the ministerial role in the premier’s office.

A former lawyer for the influential Shinawatra family, Pichit was appointed as a minister attached to the prime minister’s office in a reshuffle last month but lacked the qualifications required to take up such a post, according to the group of senators. Pichit resigned as minister on Tuesday, saying he wanted to save Srettha from any legal troubles. The resignation acquitted Pichit of further scrutiny in the case, the court said.

Pichit was sentenced to six months in jail in 2008 for contempt of court after he attempted to bribe Supreme Court officials while representing former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra during a corruption trial.

The court’s decision not to suspend Srettha means he is safe for now, but a coming trial still poses a fresh challenge for the Pheu Thai Party-led coalition government that was cobbled together with a group of pro-royalist